With the advent of a Master Data File change, CBPF had to be updated to allow for the file format change.

If you import from CSUL or POW, I’d suggest you don’t bother doing this upgrade as there are no changes that will effect you. See the post below for the explanation of what the issue is that is being addressed and Diamonds’ original article.

To update to this latest version of CBPF (If you are a subscriber), do the following. If you are a purchaser, the upgrade will ask for a code which will be provided when you call us and agree to the upgrade cost.

You should get a thank you for upgrading message. Then the import should work. If you don’t get a thank you message, you probably copied to the wrong folder. You can verify the version of CBPF by going to the Utilities tab and the version is listed on the ribbon.

I’ve changed CBPF so that it can accept this new format. There is no other functionality changes between 2.06 and 2.07. So if you don’t use the MDF file when importing monthly there is no need to do this update if you’re already using CBPF 2.06.

The December Diamond files when importing from CSUL contains a Parent Item for items which are not resolicited. I’m not sure if this is done in the MDF or POW files. If you’re using one of these file formats, please be alert for this possibility.

Before ordering an item for a customer that has an autopull, CBPF checks that if there is a parent item code that the resolicited checkbox is checked before the order will happen. Otherwise the logic is that it has been offered before so should not be autopulled. I’ve tweeked the logic upon import for all 3 file formats so that it blanks out the Parent Item field if it is the same item code as the item being solicited. Then the previous logic will work. To update to this latest version of CBPF, do the following.

You should get a thank you for upgrading message. Then the import should work. If you don’t get a thank you message, you probably copied to the wrong folder. You can verify the version of CBPF by going to the Utilities tab and the version is listed on the ribbon.

There is no good alternative to this upgrade. A temporary way to fix the problem if you can’t upgrade is to blank out the Parent Item field for items that match the current item code. This can be done after import, before “1. Find Monthly Items” button is done. It is okay to redo this button after clearing the field out. The fastest way I know of clearing this field is to filter by the month to be changed. put your cursor in the Parent Item field. Make sure the whole field is highlighted. Then press, “delete” on the keyboard and down-arrow to the next row. Repeat,

The October Diamond files contain Betty and Veronica items which begin with # in the item description. For those customers who have ‘strip’ (removes issue numbers from the item description) in their setup, this causes a problem. I’ve updated CBPF to 2.05 to deal with this issue.

I spoke with technical support at Diamond and here is what Diamond means when they are no longer supporting POW (Previews On Windows). The POW file will continue to be generated for the forseeable future. The POW program will probably continue to work. But if you need technical help, or something breaks, Diamond is going to either not assist, or may assist, but encourage you to move to ComicSuite Ultra Lite.

So what does that mean for CBPF users? Anyone can continue to use the version of CBPF they are using. If you do transition away from POW, CBPF is there ready to help. It supports the CSUL format as well as the MDF (Master Data File) format file. And the POW support is still supported in the latest version of CBPF.

There have been hickups with rolling out the 2.xx version of CBPF (as I knew there would be) since a different version of MS Office is used and the database format has changed. I very much thank those stores who have upgraded and been patient in the upgrade process.

Well, not actually, but I am hard at work making changes to CBPF. I’ve been hearing that Diamond is going to stop supporting Previews on Windows and stop creating the POW file which CBPF uses to import the Diamond data. So I’m making changes to CBPF to allow using the Master Data File, or the ComicSuite UltraLite system to get your data from.

Version 2.00 has a huge number of updates and will transition from Microsoft Access 2003 to 2013.

At the risk of you telling me to hurry up and release 2.00, I’m going to throw out a couple of teasers on what is planned.

1. Creator info (writer, artist, cover artist) will be imported and you’ll be able to filter on the creator name within the Diamond All form just like you can filter on other properties.

2. E-mail button to automatically generate an e-mail containing either the Monthly Auto-Pulls or the Items Ordered for a customer.

3. In a similar vein as #2, this information can be included in the weekly emails for all customers who receive an email.

4. Fields with hot-key shortcuts are colored so that the user can visually see which fields can be used to do something special. Ctrl-? will always show the options available.

To support the new version of CBPF, the computer must have a minimum operating system of Windows 7, so if your computer has an older operating system, you’ll need to start thinking of what you’ll do.

As always, I look forward to update ideas. I trying to stop making changes for this update, but would welcome any ideas for future updates.